Investigators take prints off arson evidence

July 29, 2003

Albany-- Investigators found a container used to pour gasoline in an Albany home, and then it was set on fire. Six people were sleeping in the home when it was torched early Monday morning. Luckily, they all made it out safely.

Tuesday Investigators check the container for fingerprints, trying to find who set the fire. This coffee creamer jar could be the key to solving this arson case. Carlton Wright used the container to store gasoline for his lawnmower. Someone took the jar and poured the gas on his porch about 2:30 AM Monday, and set it on fire.

Now Investigators check it for fingerprints. They put it in a fuming tank, and will fill the tank with a gas made from super glue. After the container is fumed with the glue, it raises the fingerprints and makes it ready for dusting. Now the prints will be checked by Captain Butch Windom of the Dougherty County Sheriff's Office with his Automated Fingerprint identification system.

Monday, Albany Police arrested 47-year-old Dorethea Jones for threatening to burn Wright's home. A team effort by local law enforcement agencies trying to solve this case. Now they wait to see if the prints turn out to be the evidence needed to charge Jones with arson.

Arson Investigator Sam Harris said "It works. As we have shown you, the prints are there. Now it's just a matter of seeing who they belong to."

Jones is being held in the Dougherty County Jail. No one was injured in the fire on West First Avenue.